I looked at a 68 convertible this afternoon. VIN number 194678S401273. This tells me it is indeed a 68, built in October 67. But the trim tag on the drivers hinge pillar says STD 976. 976 is LeMans blue, a 1969 color? Why would it have been built with 69 paint, especially if it was built in 67! The body appears to be 68 with the right push button key and no trim on the gills.
Please advise.

 

lemans blue was also a 68 color...look here:
http://usedcorvettesforsale.com/1968.shtml


mine on the otherhand is to be safari yellow...but you can see in my avatar it is some crap-burgundy that the guy painted in his garage that is now cracking and flaking off...i found a good local ma-pa shop that will strip it down and paint it correct for me when i'm ready...i hope to have it lookin like this pic!

 

Thanks for the response. I am going by a book Corvette C3 Buyers Guide by Motorworks. Well, hopefully I will get a few more references in this thread to decide.

 

The corvette black book in my possession states code=976 LeMans Blue in 1968 with 4722 units.

 

Yep. LeMans Blue for '68. Technically, that makes the '69 LeMans Blue a hold-over color.

 

lemans blue could be considered a timeless / ageless color for the corvette...it has been used for many models years

easy mike...where'd you find your avatar? i'd love to get a full size to place/paint on my garage wall to finish the decor!

 

Thanks guys!

 

UNBELIEVABLE

We need to talk. I have serial #1272, and #1271 is for sale on Ebay, a white/std now red conv. Neither of the two cars I know has a body build date on the trim tag. My car was interesting when I discovered no date, but finding 1271 this year with no date added to the mystery. Does 1273 have a body build date and if restored, is the grease pencil wheel well number 250? What options does #1273 have?

Joe 949-280-9799

 

You need better (more accurate) references - recommend you get the NCRS 1968-69 Corvette Technical Information Manual & Judging Guide; it has all the detail you'll ever need on every part/system in the car in terms of originality.

 

Hi

is the grease pencil wheel well number 250?

Is this the same number that appeares on a tank sticker handwritten ?

How was it numbered ? Somehow consecutive or ?

Günther

 

Don't know when I can check the wheel well. but there is a handwritten 258 on the tank sticker. What do you guys think this means?

 

Assembly line job numbers were often written in grease pencil (sometimes chalk) on bare bodies before any other identifying informaiton was added to the body. These numbers originated in the body shop as an in-house means of tracking the various cars. Since the assembly could hold approximately 500 Corvettes at a time, the numbers were usually in a series of 1-500. After 500, they would begin again with 1. Many of the GM photographs of the assembly line during the C2 and C3 periods show these numbers. In the photo, the "279" visible on the rear bulkhead is a job number.



The most common place to find a job number is the rear wall of the underbody. This location would have been visible from the rear of the car until body drop.

Jobs numbers on the early cars were not related to the VIN the car would eventually receive, but on later cars they were.

The job number was often handwritten on the build sheet. There are several existing photographs of tank stickers and build sheets showing these handwritten numbers.

 

...this is usually known as the "job" number. Supposely started at #001 for the first production Corvette of any given year, progressed up to #999, then rolled back to #001 and on again. Some just seem to be close to their VINs, others don't see to make sense. My old Yellow 4spd 1980 Corvette was VIN #32167, but was job #983.

...my Orange '74 Corvette is a very early '74(built Sept 11, 1973)VIN #01950 and it's "job" number is "952".

...also, if you try to lay on your back on your compartment doors and look up at the inner side of the rear decklid(on a '68-'77 coupe), it's there too.

 

Hi

is the grease pencil wheel well number 250? What options does #1273 have?

If Joe is asking this having VIN 1272, I suspect that VIN 1272 has the line number 249 , right ?

But AWilson writes : a handwritten 258 on the tank sticker
, this for the next consecutive VIN 1273.

Does this make sense ? Consecutive VIN , but not line number ?

Günther

 

It's possible for three Corvettes to have consecutive VINs and not have consecutive job numbers since the job numbers on the earlier cars (68-72) were not tied to consecutive unit numbers.

Here's an example: three body assemblies, a coupe, a convertible, and a coupe receive job numbers in the body shop of 248, 249, and 250. If these three stayed together on the line they normally would have received VINs 001201, 001202, and 001203.

After the primer coats were sprayed, there were bonding seam pin holes to fill on 249; no such problems on 248 or 250. While 249 was having the pin holes filled and being reprimed, 248 and 250 went on through the paint booth, were painted, and put on the assembly line. 249 came out of paint after that and was added to the line. At the point on the line where VIN tags were attached, 248 was tagged 001201, 250 got 001202, and 249 ends up with 001203. VINs are consecutive, but job numbers are not.

It's also possible the 258 might actually be 250 for #1273. Upon closer examination of the tank sticker, we might find a case of a loopy zero since job numbers were hand written.

 

There is a 275 on the rear body wall. Just looked up between the tank and the wall and there it was. Kinda Fun! What else can I look for?

The tank sticker is an easily read 258, not 250 Since the trim tag and the body numbers don't match, I suspect I do not have the correct tank sticker.

Just like 1271 and 1272, 1273 doesn't have a body build date on the trim tag.
So Joe, exactly what date were our cars built? Maybe you even know about the time!!!

The trim tag on the drivers hinge pillar says STD 976. 976 is LeMans blue. I guess I go with that and forget about the tank sticker. I have someone's tank sticker. How to find them to see if they want it?

Other info on 1273:
vert with hard top. Soft top and frame missing
Looks like original paint (how do I confirm?)
Power steering
Manual breaks
NOM -327?
Original wheels, I think, as it has the stamping on them.
Someone converted to square fixed headlights.
It's a project but I will get it back to proud status within a couple years.

 

As easy Mike said, maybe they had trouble with the body and held it back a full 25 cars in production! I got a lemon! : )

 

That's possible. There are a couple of other documented instances where tank stickers did not match the car and equipment.

Estimated guess on my part, but I'm betting these three were probably assembled on Wednesday, October 4th, or Thursday, October 5th. The variable would be whether the line was running on Columbus Day. Ending VIN for September was 905; ending VIN for October was 3410 leaving 2505 '68s assembled during October. There were either 21 or 22 working days in October of '67 depending upon Columbus Day and potential Saturday hours. If you use 21 working days, the average daily production is 119 cars. Adding 119 to the daily totals and we come up with Wednesday or Thursday, October 4 or 5.

Guestimate only, here.

The real stumper is why these three don't have time/build dates on the trim tag.

 

This thread is so interesting, and I have been busy painting mine...

My job number is clearly 249, written inside pass wheelwell fwd and pass footwell engine side. There was one on the rear body shell as well. Alan, I am sure you have the right tank sticker. Thanks Easy Mike for the description of the job# , and how it works on the line. Whats interesting to me is that I have not seen a missing body date before, and now I have 3 consecutive VIN numbers all without it. Of course I am searching for car 1270 and 1274!

A question for the experts. Was the vin number plate applied to every car built? For example, Were chevrolet engineering cars "vinned"? My question is that were cars that were to be sold given vin numbers and engineering cars, used to test the new body and eventually engines, cooling and the like, given vins at all or a "CE# code" that kept them away from the public? I was thinking that this could also explain the "holes" in the line. Deos anyone else have knowledge of a car in the 1200 range?

Alan, remember that you could get either a hardtop or soft top when you bought the car. You will have to look at the mounting holes to see if it ever had one. 2 top was for extra cost. You have a roadster....

JOE

 

Yes, every car built got a VIN; if Engineering seriously cobbled one up later for development or made a prototype out of it that couldn't be sold legally, they applied their own experimental plate to it and destroyed it when they were done with it.